tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20056169842361256022024-03-24T15:03:40.094-07:00Realia JudaicaDavid S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-65990147893925716692023-12-25T07:46:00.000-08:002024-01-11T13:01:50.226-08:00A Visit from the Rebbe (a parody for Nittel Nacht)<p><b style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A Visit from the Rebbe*</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">'Twas the night before Xmas, the night we call “Nittel”</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not a <i>bochur</i> was learning, not even a little;</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <i>seforim</i> lay closed on their <i>shtenders</i> with care,</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not to be opened till <i>naitz</i> would be there;</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <i>kinder</i> were nestled all snug in their beds;</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Trying to rid Torah thoughts from their heads;</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And I with my AirPods, and mamma with <i style="background-color: transparent;">tichel</i>,</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Had just settled our brains for a Torah-free Nittel<i>,</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When out on the lawn something broke through my <i>dremmel</i>,</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I sprang from my bed with a shrill "<i>Gutt in Himmel!</i>"</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Away to the window I flew like a flash,</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The moon on the <strike>breast</strike>** of the new-fallen snow,</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gave a luster of midday to objects below,</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When what to my wondering eyes did appear,</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But a stretch limousine full of <i>bochrim</i> from <i>shiur;</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />With a saintly old driver so lively and <i>heimish</i>,</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I knew in a moment – ‘twas the Rebbe, Reb Beinish!</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">More rapid than eagles he and eight <i>chevra</i> came,</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Now, <i>Itche</i>! now, <i>Mottel</i>! now <i>Yankel</i> and <i>Bumy</i>!</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On, <i>Velvel</i>! on, <i>Lazer</i>! on, <i>Ber</i> and <i>Avrumy</i>!</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So up to my roof the <i>chevra</i> they climbed</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With volumes of <i>shas</i> and <i>achronim</i> combined.</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And then, in a twinkling, I heard, a bit loud</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <i>daf-yomi shteiging</i> of that <i>lebedig</i> crowd</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As I drew in my head, and was turning around,</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Down the chimney Reb Beinish came with a bound.</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He was dressed all in black, from his head to his boots,</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and <i>shmutz</i>;</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">New sets of <i>Gemaras</i> he had stuffed into sacks</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For every young <i>talmid</i> whose learning was lax.</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">His mouth hummed a <i>niggun, </i>as if from a fiddle, </span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And the beard on his chin was as white as a <i>kittel</i>;</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With a wink of his eye and a kind smile he said,</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“<i>Minhag</i> <i>shtus</i> is this custom, there’s nothing to dread!”</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then, he admonished, “Not a moment of <i>bittul</i> –</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There’s Torah to learn, even though it is Nittel!”</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He knew what to do and went straight to his work,</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And gave me a <i>sefer</i>; then turned with a jerk,</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit;">"Final thought," said he, "verse is more fun than prose!"</span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;">And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;</span><div><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He sprang to his limo, to the <i>bochrim</i>,<i> "</i>Come quick </span>—</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Someone may get the idea I'm St. Nick!"</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But I heard him exclaim, with a <i>hartzige lach </i>—</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Happy Nittel to all, and to all <i>gutte nacht</i>!”</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b4cb4;"><span class="s1" style="color: black;">*Inspired by </span><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43171/a-visit-from-st-nicholas" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Clement Clarke Moore's classic ballad.</a> </span>See <a href="https://opensiddur.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Torah-Study-on-Christmas-Eve-Marc-Shapiro-1999.pdf" rel="" style="color: #0b4cb4;" target="_blank">here for Marc B. Shapiro's study on Nittel Nacht.</a></span></p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; color: #0b4cb4; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">**Censored</span></p></div>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-35903652916183946772022-11-22T16:50:00.005-08:002022-11-24T08:47:50.082-08:00Falling for humans<p> Please see <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F5hSFPrfrNYRimn5HnofYAsANxEgn9xLkkhA6tXpafE/edit?usp=sharing">my essay on the בְנֵי־הָאֱלֹהִים of Genesis 6</a> and the Fallen Angels.</p>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-6162254796601671632022-04-10T18:33:00.074-07:002023-03-28T09:10:03.350-07:00A night of midrash<p dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">וְדוֹרֵשׁ מֵאֲרַמִּי אוֹבֵד אָבִי, עַד שֶׁיִּגְמֹר כֹּל הַפָּרָשָׁה כֻלָּהּ (<span class="he" lang="he">משנה פסחים</span><span class="sectionString"><span class="he" lang="he"> י׃ד)</span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"></span></p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>He expounds on “An Aramean tried to destroy my father, etc.” until he concludes the entire section (Pesahim 10:4).</i></span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The core text of the Passover Haggadah, an exposition of four verses in Deuteronomy (26:5-8), is a midrashic tour de force that places the rabbinic method of biblical interpretation on full display. With their well-honed sensitivity to biblical expression, the rabbis draw out a narrative of the exodus from a terse chronology in a completely unrelated context. While we may accept the overall thrust of the Haggadah's interpretative style, we must also admit that some of its hermeneutical leaps are so fanciful as to test the very limits of midrash. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The Haggadah certainly has little interest in the plain meaning of Scripture ("peshat"). The word "Haggadah" itself is an alternative form of "Aggadah," a method largely unconstrained by literal or contextual meaning (though subject to its own logic). </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Take, for example, the first verse from the </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Deuteronomy passage, translated literally: </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"></p><blockquote dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי וַיֵּרֶד מִצְרַיְמָה וַיָּגר שָׁם בִּמְתֵי מְעָט וַיְהִי־שָׁם לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל עָצוּם וָרָב׃</span></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there; but there he became a great and very populous nation.</span></blockquote><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">The rabbis read the verse differently. They assumed that the "Aramean" was Laban, rather than Jacob, and <span style="text-align: right;">אוֹבֵד is a transitive verb, i.e., "</span><span style="text-align: right;">(<i>Laban</i>) </span><span style="text-align: right;">the Aramean <i>tried to destroy</i> my father (Jacob)." Taking this identification for granted, without the slightest effort to convince its readers, </span></span><span style="font-family: times;">the Haggadah uses <span style="text-align: right;">אֲרַמִּי אוֹבֵד אָבִי</span> to show how Laban "sought to uproot the whole people," that is, to destroy Jacob and the nascent tribes of Israel.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">As a straightforward reading, this interpretation strains credulity (see Ibn Ezra and Rashbam) and I suspect the rabbis themselves would acknowledge that "Aramean," taken literally, refers to Jacob rather than Laban. Yet they crafted this midrash, not to undermine the simple meaning of the text, but to drive home a theological-historical idea. The idea is stated explicitly in the Haggadah at the beginning of Maggid and repeated at its conclusion, by means of the catchphrase בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר (in every generation): </span></p><p dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"></span></div><blockquote><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">שֶׁלֹּא אֶחָד בִּלְבָד עָמַד עָלֵינוּ לְכַלּוֹתֵנוּ, אֶלָּא <b>שֶׁבְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר</b> עוֹמְדִים עָלֵינוּ לְכַלוֹתֵנוּ, וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַצִּילֵנוּ מִיָּדָם.</span></div><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large; text-align: left;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; text-align: left;">I</span><span style="font-family: times; text-align: left;">t is not only one that has stood against us to destroy us, but rather in every generation, they stand against us to destroy us, but the Holy One, blessed be He, rescues us from their hand.</span></span></blockquote><p dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: left;"></span></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר</b> חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת־עַצְמוֹ כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרַיִם</span> </span></blockquote><p></p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large; text-align: left;"></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><blockquote>In every generation, one is obligated to see himself as if he left Egypt.</blockquote></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">In short, persecution and redemption are perennial features of Jewish existence. Even before the Egyptian bondage, in a sign of things to come for generations, the nation's progenitor was threatened with annihilation.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">By means of midrash, stretched to its elastic limit, the biblical account of bondage and redemption is transformed from a unique historical e</span><span><span style="font-family: times;">vent into a metahistorical experience,</span></span><span style="font-family: times;"> to be </span><span style="font-family: times;">reenacted at the Seder </span><span style="font-family: times;">בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר, even at times and in places where Jews are free and prosperous</span><span style="font-family: times;">. Only midrash can impart this metahistorical truth.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">An even more startling demonstration of the gap between peshat and derash in the Haggadah is its interpretation of the last verse in the Deuteronomy passage. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Here again, the Haggadah utilizes midrash to make an unequivocal, even extreme, theological claim which departs dramatically from a simple reading of the Torah:</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"></p><blockquote dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> וַיּוֹצִאֵנוּ ה' מִמִּצְרַיִם בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה וּבְמֹרָא גָּדֹל וּבְאֹתוֹת וּבְמֹפְתִים׃</span></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The Lord freed us from Egypt by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm and awesome power, and by signs and portents.</span></blockquote><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The rabbis thought "the Lord" was superfluous -- from previous verses, we already know that God is the subject -- so they took it to exclude all other agents, human or divine. God <i>himself </i>took us out of Egypt, without intermediaries. The Haggadah states this explicitly and emphatically, underscoring the point with metronomic repetition: </span></p><p dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div dir="rtl"><blockquote style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">וַיּוֹצִאֵנוּ ה' מִמִּצְרַיִם. <b>לֹא עַל־יְדֵי מַלְאָךְ, וְלֹא עַל־יְדֵי שָׂרָף, וְלֹא עַל־יְדֵי שָׁלִיחַ, אֶלָּא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בִּכְבוֹדוֹ וּבְעַצְמוֹ</b>. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וְעָבַרְתִּי בְאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם בַּלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה, וְהִכֵּיתִי כָּל־בְּכוֹר בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מֵאָדָם וְעַד בְּהֵמָה, וּבְכָל אֱלֹהֵי מִצְרַיִם אֶעֱשֶׂה שְׁפָטִים. אֲנִי ה'.</span></blockquote></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">"The Lord freed us from Egypt" - <i>not through an angel and not through a seraph and not through a messenger, but directly by the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself</i>, as it is stated (Ex. 12:12)</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">; "And I will pass through the Land of Egypt on that night and I will smite every firstborn in the Land of Egypt, from men to animals; and with all the gods of Egypt, I will make judgments, I am the Lord." </span></blockquote><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">But is that what Exodus actually says? Were the Egyptian firstborn killed by God directly or by an angel of death? While some ambiguity lingers in the text, it seems clear enough from references to a "destroyer" (Ex. 12:13, 12:23), and from the blood-ritual meant to dissuade that destroyer from entering Isr</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">aelite homes, that an angel or demon was at least somewhat involved. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Shemot Rabba (17:5), for example, leaves the matter open for debate: וְעָבַר ה' לִנְגֹף אֶת מִצְרַיִם, יֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים עַל יְדֵי מַלְאָךְ וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בְּעַצְמוֹ. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">But the Haggadah (and parallel midrashim) goes much further in claiming that the <i>entire </i>exodus was conducted by God without assistance. And this, we know, is far from the plain sense of Scripture. The evidence is in Scripture itself: In his message to the King of Edom, Moses himself says, "We cried to the Lord who heard our plea, sending a messenger (וַיִּשְׁלַח מַלְאָךְ) who freed us from Egypt." (Num. 20:16). Whether this "messenger" is human (Moses) or an archangel (perhaps Michael or Metatron) is beside the point -- there was, in fact, a messenger. The Haggadah's repetitious insistence that the exodus occurred לֹא עַל־יְדֵי מַלְאָךְ, וְלֹא עַל־יְדֵי שָׂרָף, וְלֹא עַל־יְדֵי שָׁלִיחַ directly negates the verse in Numbers, almost to the word. Note that a parallel version in some midrashim lacks the phrase וְלֹא עַל־יְדֵי שָׂרָף, making the negation even more obvious (see <i>Haggadah Shel Pesah</i>, ed. E.D. Goldschmidt, Jerusalem, 1948, p. 40; Jerusalem, 1960, pp. 44-45). </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Rather than a recitation of events, the Seder is meant to be an exercise in deep storytelling. An historical timeline could only scratch the experiential surface and could be better accomplished by a few key passages from Exodus. The four verses in Deuteronomy, by contrast, were deliberately chosen for their extreme brevity. They are a springboard for interpretation, best delivered by the deep readings of midrash.</span></p></div>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-68430101237750014042021-10-19T11:50:00.106-07:002023-02-16T14:05:57.446-08:00Proud tower, humbled man<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span>The
laconic Tower of Babel story in Genesis has always been a renewable resource of interpretation. From the ancient period onwards, biblical interpreters offered a healthy variety of explanations -- </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">all only hinted at in Scripture</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span> -- for God’s ire at the "Generation of
Dispersion." </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Among them: The tower-builders planned to breach heaven and replace God with a
new deity; fearing another
flood, they sought to buttress the celestial canopy, or to build a new (this time stationary) "ark" well above the earth's high water mark; or, the early Babylonians wanted a monument to their own glory in the
form of a great city, but a city which would expand upwards instead of outwards, thus violating God’s
command to “multiply and fill the Earth." According to this last interpretation, dispersion was for humanity's own good, not so much a punishment as the fulfillment of their manifest destiny.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A
recent iteration of the idea that God disrupted the tower project for man's benefit reads the dispersion story as a rejection of totalitarian groupthink
and a celebration of diversity. In this retelling, God prefers a “salad” of humanity over the conformist
melting pot.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span>With its nod to cultural pluralism, t</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">his interpretation </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">will resonate with modern audiences. As contemporary </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">dersah</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">, it works very well. But
as an explanation for the scriptural purpose of the story, I think
it falls short. And while this won't detract from its value or appeal, the idea is also an old one -- it has antecedents in earlier Jewish interpretation.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the sixteenth century, Obadiah Seforno wrote that the dispersion was, indeed, supposed to diversify mankind. But he adds this plot twist: God’s original idea of human diversity was, in fact, polytheism. Man wanted to replace God with a <i>single</i> false deity but, at this early stage
of history, he was meant to worship many gods. By means of this polytheistic error, mankind was supposed to arrive at the idea of the one true God.
In Seforno’s view, this was a primarily theological, rather than social dispersion, which will ultimately fulfill the prophetic vision of humanity united under
the banner of one God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span>A nineteenth-century version of the “anti-groupthink” interpretation, in the </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">commentary of R. Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Netziv</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">), </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">emphasizes the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">ideological</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">conformism and </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">political </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">authoritarianism of the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">tower-builders</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">. Netziv’s Babel was an
aspiring thought-police state. First, the Babylonians allowed no citizen to
leave. Later, the builders envisioned a watchtower designed to spy
on the city’s inhabitants and thereby enforce their monolithic ideology. Dissent was punishable by death in the fiery furnace – the same furnace, of course,
that baked bricks for the great metropolis – as illustrated by Abraham’s sentence for
rejecting idolatry (Netziv's updated "midrash" combines two separate rabbinic traditions about Nimrod, the supposed founding ruler of Babel: Nimrod himself instigated the tower project; Nimrod sent Abraham into the fiery furnace for refusing to renounce monotheism). God foresaw,
Netziv says, the inherent immorality of a totalitarian state and put an end to
the plan. Almost certainly, this is a veiled critique of the Tsarist
Russian Empire in which Netziv lived.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My
own inclination, however, is to look for the meaning of such biblical stories not in their implications for contemporary social issues, but in
their original scriptural setting (not to be confused with historical setting).
<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yehezkel Kaufmann wrote that the first few chapters of Genesis are a series
of etiological tales attributing the origin of evil to man’s rebellion against
God. Adam and Eve brought death upon humanity by violating God’s command; and, by challenging
God’s reign on earth, the tower builders gave rise to idolatry and social conflict. </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">God’s
response in both cases is to cut man down to
size, reminding him that despite his remarkable achievements, he remains dust
and ashes, </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">a not-God</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">: וַיֵּרֶד ה’ לִרְאֹת אֶת־הָעִיר וְאֶת־הַמִּגְדָּל אֲשֶׁר בָּנוּ<b> בְּנֵי
הָאָדָם</b></span><span>׃</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Note the expression בְּנֵי
הָאָדָם -- an unmistakable reference, by opposition, to בְּנֵי הָאֱ-לֹהִים (see Gen. 6:2-4; Ps. 82:6-7; Job 1:6, 2:1), the Divine Council God consults before man is first placed (in the creation story), and later reminded of his place (in the Tower story), in the hierarchy of being. The plurals in both stories imply God's collaboration with his angelic council: “Let
us make man” just before man’s creation; “let us go down and confound their speech”
just before his dispersion.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span>The early chapters of Genesis describe two pivotal events in human evolution (parallel, not coincidentally, to critical stages of early child development): The acquisition of morality and language. In each case, man has just acquired a godlike talent and God must intervene to prevent any further breach of the human-divine boundary. P</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">arallel verses from each biblical narrative highlight their structural and linguistic similarities:</span></span></p><p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">וַיֹּאמֶר ה’ אֱ-לֹהִים <b>הֵן הָאָדָם הָיָה כְּאַחַד מִמֶּנּוּ</b> לָדַעַת טוֹב וָרָע <b>וְעַתָּה</b> פֶּן־יִשְׁלַח יָדוֹ וְלָקַח גַּם מֵעֵץ הַחַיִּים וְאָכַל וָחַי לְעֹלָם׃<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(Gen. 3:22)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">וַיֹּאמֶר ה’ <b>הֵן עַם אֶחָד וְשָׂפָה אַחַת לְכֻלָּם</b> וְזֶה הַחִלָּם לַעֲשׂוֹת <b>וְעַתָּה</b> לֹא־יִבָּצֵר מֵהֶם כֹּל אֲשֶׁר יָזְמוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(Gen. 11:6)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">God blocks
Adam’s path to the Tree of Life because the quasi-divine combination of morality and immortality would make humans nearly indistinguishable from angels. In
our own story, God worries that human beings -- unconstrained in technological
skill and single-minded in language and purpose -- might become effectively omnipotent. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Whether
this interpretation conveys a contemporary message (in fact, it does) is beside the point, at least
for me. But as <i>peshat</i>, I find it satisfying, even inspiring, on
its own. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-23938586982881308822021-08-27T04:34:00.098-07:002023-04-11T07:33:37.422-07:00The Torah abhors a curse<blockquote><span style="font-family: times;">Then the officials shall address the troops, as follows: “Is there anyone who has built a new house but has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his home, lest he die in battle and another dedicate it. Is there anyone who has planted a vineyard but has never harvested it? Let him go back to his home, lest he die in battle and another harvest it. Is there anyone who has paid the bride-price for a wife, but who has not yet married her? Let him go back to his home, lest he die in battle and another marry her.”<br /><br />The officials shall go on addressing the troops and say, “Is there anyone afraid and disheartened? Let him go back to his home, lest the courage of his comrades flag like his.”<br /><br />--Deuteronomy 20:5-8</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Why are the soldiers in the first three verses singled out for honorable discharge? Doesn’t the real possibility of death on the battlefield weigh equally on the minds of every combatant? Of all the innumerable tragedies, actual and potential, that may afflict fallen soldiers and their families, there must be something unique about these. No doubt, it’s especially heart-wrenching to imagine the death of a young man or woman which robs them of a new home, the fruits of a major investment, or a marriage, just before consummation. The occasional obituary for a young bride or groom killed accidentally, only days before their wedding, evokes deep sorrow, if not shock and horror. </span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">But aren’t all these things -- more precisely, the fear of these things -- implicit in the last verse’s catchall category of the “afraid and disheartened” who are dismissed from the battlefield? Are these simply examples, admittedly extreme examples, of distractions that can make a soldier ineffective (see Ibn Ezra and Nahmanides)?<br /><br />The answer seems to lie in the fact that the Torah is less worried here about the soldier’s fear of death, or even about his death per se, than with its outcome. We send him home out of concern for the <i>secondary </i>impact of his death. Our fear is that if he doesn’t leave now, </span><span style="font-family: times;">אִישׁ אַחֵר</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> (“another”) -- the phrase is repeated in each of the three verses -- might reap what he has sown. And, in Rashi’s words, </span><span style="font-family: times;">וְדָבָר שֶׁל עָגְמַת נֶפֶשׁ הוּא זֶה</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> -- this is an unusually cruel circumstance, resulting in profound mental anguish.<br /><br />But whose anguish? If he is killed, the soldier won’t feel the anguish of his loss.<br /><br />As it happens, the Torah reintroduces this house-vineyard-wife triptych later in Deuteronomy within the "Tokheha," the dire warnings by Moses of severe punishments Israel will suffer if it disobeys God’s laws. Among the seemingly endless list of curses, we find identical images, down to the very same wording:<br /><br /></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: times;">If you pay the bride-price for a wife, another man shall enjoy her. If you build a house, you shall not live in it. If you plant a vineyard, you shall not harvest it. Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it . . . Your sons and daughters shall be delivered to another people, while you look on; and your eyes shall strain for them constantly, but you shall be helpless. A people you do not know shall eat up the produce of your soil and all your gains; you shall be abused and downtrodden continually, until you are driven mad by what your eyes behold.<br /><br />--Deuteronomy 28:30-34</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><br />Note the repetition of “looking” and “seeing with your own eyes” in the latter verses. The soldier killed in battle, in the earlier passage, is spared the sight of his loss; here, the victim sees his life unravel right in front of him. The loss itself is tragic, but even more cruel is having to helplessly <i>watch </i>the untimely death of loved ones, to experience it in real time and to suffer its aftermath; to grapple daily -- morally, philosophically, and psychologically -- with the injustice of young lives cut short, their dreams remaining unrealized. <br /><br />As tragic as these events are for the victims, the brunt of the punishment strikes those surrounding them. The dead don’t feel any pain -- if we are to believe Kohelet, at least, they feel and know nothing. Instead, they may leave a legacy of suffering to their survivors, who must endure the <i>idea</i> of an untimely and unjust death. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Talmud (<a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Moed_Katan.25b.5?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mo'ed Katan 25b</a>) expresses this idea in a beautiful one-line elegy:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div><blockquote><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times;">בְּכוּ לָאֲבֵלִים וְלֹא לָאֲבֵידָה, שֶׁהִיא לִמְנוּחָה וְאָנוּ לַאֲנָחָה.</span></div><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: times;">Cry for the mourners and not for the loss, for the loss goes to rest, while we go to our sighs.</span></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />In allowing these special exemptions, the Torah, to the extent that it can, seeks to minimize the most morally offensive consequences of war, beyond those on the battlefield. Not that any combat death or, for that matter, any death at all, is less tragic than what Deuteronomy describes. Whether the victim is nineteen or ninety-nine, every human death is tragic, every life taken is wasted potential</span>. <div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">In a category apart, however, are circumstances of such immeasurable cruelty, that death is not only tragic, but obscene; the mourners feel not only bereft, but cursed; where death makes a mockery of justice, undermines our confidence in a basically decent existence, and shatters the belief that "God’s kindness permeates the world.” </span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">For such evils, the Torah has no tolerance. Given the opportunity, we are obligated to deny death, at its most sinister, a needless victory.<br /><br /></span><br /> </div></div></div>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-73882442636023289612021-03-30T04:35:00.002-07:002021-03-30T05:47:19.722-07:00Orthodox drinking and gambling -- an unwelcome cultural shift<p>Please see <a href="https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/letters-180/" target="_blank">my letter to the Jewish Standard</a>.</p><p>For example: <a href="https://jewishlink.news/food/42632-the-jewish-link-wine-guide-2021" target="_blank">https://jewishlink.news/food/42632-the-jewish-link-wine-guide-2021</a></p>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-6213296829072127232020-11-26T13:41:00.068-08:002022-11-29T08:34:43.727-08:00Jacob's stone(s)<div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> וַיִּפְגַּ֨ע בַּמָּק֜וֹם וַיָּ֤לֶן שָׁם֙ כִּי־בָ֣א הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ וַיִּקַּח֙ מֵאַבְנֵ֣י הַמָּק֔וֹם וַיָּ֖שֶׂם מְרַֽאֲשֹׁתָ֑יו וַיִּשְׁכַּ֖ב בַּמָּק֥וֹם הַהֽוּא׃</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">וַיַּשְׁכֵּ֨ם יַעֲקֹ֜ב בַּבֹּ֗קֶר וַיִּקַּ֤ח אֶת־הָאֶ֙בֶן֙ אֲשֶׁר־שָׂ֣ם מְרַֽאֲשֹׁתָ֔יו וַיָּ֥שֶׂם אֹתָ֖הּ מַצֵּבָ֑ה וַיִּצֹ֥ק שֶׁ֖מֶן עַל־רֹאשָֽׁהּ׃</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>For students of Rashi's commentary on the Torah, these verses evoke the image of Jacob's quarreling stones. According to the rabbinic tradition Rashi cites, each stone demanded, "upon me let this righteous man lie his head," until God made peace among them by fusing them together (Rashi, Gen. 28:11 following Bereshit Rabba and Hulin 91b). </div><div><br /></div><div>A memorable story by itself -- with an echo of long-forgotten Israelite mythology -- this midrash is also an affecting metaphor for the unification of the twelve tribes under the banner of their forefather Jacob (according to a variation on this story, twelve stones merged into one -- the symbolism is stated explicitly in <a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Bereishit_Rabbah.68.11?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en" target="_blank">Bereshit Rabba</a> and <a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Pirkei_DeRabbi_Eliezer.35.5?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en" target="_blank">Pirke Rabbi Eliezer</a>).</div><div><div><br /></div><div>The peshat-oriented exegetes (e.g., Rashbam, Ibn Ezra, Bekhor Shor), of course, don't feel bound to read מֵאַבְנֵ֣י הַמָּק֔וֹם as multiple stones; Jacob took only one stone, they say, of many in the area. (Interestingly, the King James Version translation agrees with Rashi: "and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.")</div><div><br /></div><div>Why would the Torah go out of its way to tell us about an apparently random rock? Because of its special destiny. After sleeping beside it, and awaking from his famous dream, Jacob dedicates the rock as a מצבה (a stele or monument), anoints it with oil (an act of consecration) and vows that upon his safe return from Haran he will sacrifice thanksgiving offerings to God in that very spot, the site of a future temple.</div><div><br />But why did Jacob need a stone in the first place? וַיָּ֖שֶׂם מְרַֽאֲשֹׁתָ֑יו may seem to suggest he wanted to prop up his head on a stone pillow. And on one level, this makes sense. Jacob later says that he escaped from Esau carrying only his walking stick (Gen. 32:10). While this may be poetic hyperbole, Jacob would certainly not have had time to pack unnecessary belongings like cushions or extra garments to pad his campsite. A pillow of stone befits his desperate and spartan condition at the time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Still, the word מְרַאֲשׁוֹת in the Bible doesn't always, or possibly ever, mean "under the head." Instead, it appears to mean "beside the head." The <a href="https://biblehub.com/hebrew/strongs_4763.htm" target="_blank">biblical usage</a> includes, for example, the following (I Samuel 26:7, 11-12): וַחֲנִית֥וֹ מְעוּכָֽה־בָאָ֖רֶץ מְרַאֲשֹׁתָ֑יו -- "his spear stuck in the ground at his head" -- certainly not <i>under </i>his head! (see also Mandelkern's Concordance, p. 1065, which defines מְרַאֲשׁוֹת as "the opposite of מַרְגְּלֹתָיו," the latter meaning at the legs, rather than under the legs).</div><div><br /></div><div>The most likely explanation is that Jacob took his stone, or stones, for warmth. Ancient travelers sleeping outside in the cool night air, especially in the desert, could take advantage of the heat that radiates, well into the night, from sunbaked rocks. Jacob may have also deliberately avoided lighting a fire at night so as not to draw attention from Esau and his men who, he would have feared, were already pursuing him. </div><div><br /></div><div>If so, then the Midrash, rather than the peshat commentaries, may have gotten it right after all. For maximum radiant heat, Jacob would no doubt have gathered as many large stones as he could.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jacob's descendants, an imperfect union of often warring tribes, are fortunate that those honor-hungry, self-centered stones ultimately, if involuntarily, made peace with each other.</div><div><p><br /></p></div></div>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-2153944023430854212020-09-23T13:29:00.033-07:002023-01-02T04:40:46.224-08:00Tikkun Olam is a great idea. It's just not in Alenu.Re. the correct spelling of <i>le-taken olam</i> in the Alenu prayer (mistakenly translated in this context as "to repair the world)," <a href="https://hakirah.org/vol%2011%20first.pdf" target="_blank">Mitchell First has written convincingly on this topic</a>. The earliest textual evidence certainly points to לתכן ("to establish") instead of the prevalent לתקן ("to repair").<br /><br /><div>I would add, however, that the strongest proof for <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">לתכן </span>is contextual rather than from textual variants -- that is, from the Musaf prayer itself and from related biblical verses from which Alenu's author seems to draw.<div><br /></div><div>The expression <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">לתכן עולם</span> appears to allude to the second Ketuvim verse (Ps. 93:1) in the Malkhuyot section of Musaf: </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">ה' <b>מָלָךְ </b>גֵּאוּת לָבֵשׁ לָבֵשׁ יְהֹוָה עֹז הִתְאַזָּר אַף־<b>תִּכּוֹן תֵּבֵל</b> בַּל־תִּמּוֹט</span></div><div><br /></div><div>More precisely, <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">לתכן עולם במלכות ש-די</span> is a compound phrase constructed from the last words of that verse -- <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">לתכן עולם</span> follows <span style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">תִּכּוֹן תֵּבֵל</span></span> -- combined with the biblical usage <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">תכון מלכות</span> (e.g., I Sam. 20:31; I Kings 2:12), the establishment of a permanent dynasty or kingdom. </div><div><br /></div><div>But no matter how you spell the word in Alenu, the current usage of Tikkun Olam represents a noble effort that, in manageable portions, is much more practical to implement than bringing God's kingdom down to earth. Quite possibly, the two programs are effectively the same.</div></div>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-26120278476284178822020-09-15T07:33:00.008-07:002021-08-09T07:25:20.789-07:00For the Love of God<p style="margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p>(Slightly revised version of <a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/for-the-love-of-god/" rel="" target="_blank">essay posted on Times of Israel</a>)<p style="margin: 0in 0in 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 22.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;">In a year defined by its compound anxieties — medical, racial, political, environmental, and economic — we are in last days of the most anxious month on the Jewish calendar. Without much of an independent identity, Elul is the final stretch of the religious year and a prelude to the impending Days of Awe. Traditionally, it is a time of increased religious vigilance, including heightened introspection, Selichot (penitential prayers), revisiting personal and communal moral standards, and stricter observance, all in anticipation of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. </p>But there’s more to Elul, even in a year like this one, than brooding over the prior year’s shortcomings or worrying about the weeks and months ahead. For the sensitive religious soul, this season can also be a time of deep spiritual yearning and an intensified love for the divine. A memorable epigram, citing the Song of Songs (6:3), literally spells this out: “’I am for my beloved, and my beloved is for me’ — this is an acronym for ‘Elul.’” <br /><br />Love and fear often come in tandem. And in Jewish thought, love of God and fear of God are considered opposite but conjoined poles of a unified response to divinity: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God demand of you? Only this: to fear the Lord your God, to walk only in His paths, to love him . . .” (Deuteronomy 10:12). <br /><br />The traditional Siddur for children begins (right after <i>Modeh Ani</i>) with a declaration — “the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God” (Psalms 111:10) — that places awe and reverence for divinity at the epicenter of intellectual achievement. And the second verse of Shema, almost a credo of Jewish faith, is the commandment to love God. <br /><br />While both mitzvot are somewhat amorphous, fear of God may be the easier of the two to grasp and to implement. But how can the Torah mandate loving God? What does it mean in practice? <br /><br />In the very first chapters of his Mishneh Torah code, Maimonides lists love and fear of God as distinct but tightly coupled commandments. Characteristically, he intellectualizes the effort required to fulfill them. Maimonides states that love and fear of the divine, properly observed, arises from an appreciation of God’s majesty and man’s humility. And this can only be accomplished by means of study; specifically, training in physics and metaphysics: “One can only love God by the knowledge with which one knows Him. According to the knowledge, will be the love . . . a person ought therefore to devote himself to understanding those sciences and studies which will inform him concerning his Master” (Laws of Repentance 10:6). Such learning, Maimonides assures us, will ultimately result in an obsessive love for God (in an unexpected near-poetic flourish, he compares it to romantic infatuation) and a concomitant feeling of smallness within the vastness of the universe. This sense of humility is what the Torah means by fearing God. <br /><br />Note that the type of fear that God demands, for Maimonides, is not the fear of punishment (in fact, he rejected the concept of divine retribution by suffering in the afterlife). He has little patience for those who worship exclusively out of fear, as commonly understood, or for the expectation of reward. Rather, he says, one who worships God as intended, out of love, “does what is true because it is true” (ibid., 10:2). <br /><br />As always, Maimonides sets the bar high -- and in this case, by his own standards, possibly too high. His definition of love and fear of God is so consciously elitist as to be out of reach for most people: “This standard [to worship God from love],” he concedes, “is indeed a very high one; not every sage attained it.” (Note, however: Rather than the conclusion of an intellectual journey, the biblical meaning of “loving” God is to commit to worship Him exclusively, and to observe the mitzvot – in short, “to walk only in His paths”). <br /><br />On this and many other matters, both philosophical and halakhic, Maimonides had his detractors. It also goes without saying that Maimonidean (unsurprisingly, largely Aristotelian) physics, as summarized in the earliest chapters of Mishneh Torah, is hopelessly out of date. <br /><br />But the idea that loving God must begin, logically and practically, with a love for the truth, is a timeless one that must be at the foundation of our spiritual lives. In pledging their loyalty and love to God, religious people should never be asked, or ask themselves, to forsake science and fact. And if the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God, human wisdom itself, both secular and divine, is only possible with an irrevocable commitment to the truth. <br /><br /> David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-30548231931156524962020-05-19T10:30:00.001-07:002020-05-19T10:30:35.488-07:00What does cheese have to do with Mount Sinai?<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Please see my </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/what-does-cheese-have-to-do-with-mount-sinai/&source=gmail&ust=1589995335618000&usg=AFQjCNF2nbU1YBdy5GpGQuCEdbpwYQQhiA" href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/what-does-cheese-have-to-do-with-mount-sinai/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">essay on Shavuot, dairy, and gratitude for food security.</a>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-76796612505668133322020-04-24T10:06:00.002-07:002022-03-04T06:23:39.723-08:00Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on Jewish ethics and the State of Israel (1959) - an excerpt<span style="font-family: inherit;">I've transcribed a section of a <a href="https://www.box.com/s/7vpxhzhg2ekrid9e5fb4/5/129360005/1004283791/1" target="_blank">recorded lecture by R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, “Religious Definitions of Man and his Social Institutions, Part 3” (1959)</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.box.com/s/7vpxhzhg2ekrid9e5fb4/5/129360005/1004283791/1"><br /></a></span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The excerpt below begins at 33:29. For the sake of clarity </span></span></span>I've made minor edits, <span style="font-family: inherit;">generally indicated by square brackets. A useful </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://kavvanah.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/rav-soloveitchik-religious-definitions-of-man-and-his-social-institutions-1959-part-3-of-7/" target="_blank">historical background, summary, and analysis by Alan Brill can be found here.</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">________</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />[Judaism] insisted upon full axiological democracy. You see, this is the kind of democracy which modern man does not understand. Modern man understands political democracy and also understands, perhaps, economic democracy – as the socialist countries, so to say, claim to understand; [though] perhaps it isn’t true. He doesn't understand democracy axiologically, as to the worth of the person. That the great scholar, the scientist, and the little person have the same worth, modern man did not understand, I don’t believe I understand, and perhaps no one understands. But Judaism insisted upon it. Judaism was both realistic, at times, and at times it was simply daydreaming, completely caught in the web of fantasy and imagination. But it was a beautiful fantasy, at least.<br /><br />I will tell you frankly. Now, with the emergence of the State of Israel, I utter one prayer. And simply, many times, my mind is disturbed. We have a beautiful ethic. And, it is hard to say that we were angels but, more or less, the pages of our history are not as stained with blood and tears and injustice and brutality, as are the pages of the history of European society, to take feudal times or medieval times. The simple reason is not, perhaps, because we are superior to them, [but that] we simply did not encounter the challenge. We never had a state. We never had political problems. […] <br /><br />A private person, a weak person, a persecuted person, a person who [had no] say could not commit the injustices which, for instance, France or Germany or feudal England committed in the middle ages. But, many times I ask, what if our history had been different, had taken a different course? What if we had been a state in the middle ages, how would we have acted? Just like the feudal lords? Or would we have acted differently because of Judaic ethics? I have no answer to that. Who knows? To say hypothetically how we would have acted is ridiculous. Now, with the State of Israel, we are facing the test. Will we behave like any other state, ethically? <br /><br />Basically, no state is ethical. I believe that statehood itself implies an intrinsic contradiction to ethics; [even] the best one. Will we act differently or will we restrain ourselves from engaging in certain [practices] which are in conflict with basic Judaic ethics? Or will we yield to temptation? Of course, a few experiences are not very [re]assuring, I must tell you. Others, somehow, hold out hope. I don’t know. But, to me, this is the basic problem with which we, the Diaspora Jews, are faced with regard to the State of Israel. [...] The problem is, here we have an opportunity – the Jews are the rulers, they legislate the laws, they are the masters, so to say. We have never been masters, obviously. We have always been the subordinates. Always. Since the destruction of the Second Temple 1900 years ago. It’s quite a long time. Now, we are the masters. Of course, in a small land, on a narrow strip along the eastern Mediterranean. Will we act like masters or will we understand that Judaism does not know the concept of master and slave, victor and vanquished, powerful and weak? This is my problem with regard to the State of Israel. <br /><br />The whole of Jewish history will be interpreted in terms of what the State of Israel will do in the next fifty years. If the State of Israel will not live up to the great hopes and challenges of Judaic ethics – I am not speaking now of economics and science, this is a secondary problem to me – then the whole of Jewish history will appear in a different light. People will reinterpret Jewish history. So the Jews were nice and decent? This is simply because they didn’t have the opportunity to be wicked. But as soon as they got the opportunity, they proved to the world that they are not better than anybody else.</span>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-26440187355425483212020-04-06T20:01:00.026-07:002022-04-20T11:35:26.580-07:00A second look at the Haggadah's simple child<div>
Of the Haggadah's four archetypal children, the תם — usually translated as simple or simple-minded — may be the most misunderstood and underappreciated. He (or she) appears to earn the name from his unembellished, innocently curious reaction to the Passover service -- ?מה זאת -- "what is this?" The Haggadah seems to present his short and seemingly naive formulation in stark contrast to the question of the wise child. Seeking detailed instruction on the ritual obligations of the Seder, the latter applies technical halakhic categories to the holiday rituals even before he gets his answer.</div>
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The traditional view of the תם is encapsulated by a comment in <i>Siddur Rashi</i>, an anonymous anthology from the school of the master exegete:</div>
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תם: Neither wise nor wicked, but simple (תמים). He lacks the intelligence to ask “what are the testimonies, statutes, and judgments,” a detailed inquiry into each aspect of the Passover service. He simply asks, "what is this?" </blockquote>
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In the oldest versions of the rabbinic "four children" typology, the dichotomy between the wise child and his intellectual opposite was much more explicit. In those texts, instead of a בן תם there is a בן טיפש, a foolish child. Scholars surmise that when it was incorporated into the Haggadah, the text was deliberately altered to avoid offense.</div>
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Medieval Haggadah manuscripts, printed versions from the sixteenth century onward, and illustrated Haggadot still in use almost always portray the wise child as an elderly, pious scholar. But how do you draw the תם, either on paper or in the imagination? </div>
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To take a modern example, the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MYS_XDoQc-IavXIdkery8CqpbIL4d8Bq/view" target="_blank">extremely popular Haggadah illustrations of Siegmund Forst (1904-2006) from the 1950s and 1960s</a> include several variations on the simple child, none too flattering: He tends to have an absent or quizzical look, holding a finger to his chin as he tries to make sense of his surroundings, and appearing only marginally more engaged than the silent child ("who does not know how to ask"). In another, somewhat disturbing Forst rendering, he is a grown man playing with blocks. And in his best portrait, from 1959, תם is an Everyman -- in Yiddish, א פשוטע איד -- reading the comics and sports pages while he smokes a cigar. His bearded counterpart, wrapped in a tallit and pondering a page of Talmud, towers over his shoulder. </div>
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<div>Despite the popularity of these images, we may have distorted the image of the תם well beyond recognition. It's time to re-imagine his much maligned personality.</div>
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In transforming the בן טיפש into a בן תם, the ancient composers of the Haggadah may have had more in mind than just euphemism. The תם, I believe, is morally advantaged rather than intellectually deficient.</div>
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Recall that the wise child is a חכם, but he is no צדיק. He is never praised for his moral or religious aptitude. And while he seems to be, like the תם, genuinely curious, he's also, frankly, a bit of a showoff. His question is fairly pretentious, saturated with "lomdus" (abstract legal conceptualization) but designed to impress as much as to learn. <a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/between-wise-and-wicked-ritual-and-narrative-at-the-seder-and-beyond/" target="_blank">He also seems to have a poorly ordered set of religious-moral priorities</a>.</div>
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In the Bible, תם is used exclusively in a moral sense, often in parallel with ישר (morally upright). Not once does the biblical word describe a mediocre intellect; instead, it is reserved for legendary moral and religious figures like Noah, Job, Abraham, Jacob, and David. Understood this way, the תם of the Haggadah's typology stands opposite the wicked child rather than the wise child (see, e.g., Gen. 25:27, which contrasts Jacob, an איש תם, with his evil twin Esau, the cunning hunter; Job 9:22: "He destroys the blameless [תם] and the guilty [רשע]"*).<br />
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"What is this?" may sound unsophisticated, but it is also morally and intellectually guileless. It's the kind of question -- full of childlike wonder at everything beautiful, true, and good in the universe -- to which we can all aspire. In the image of Seder's תם, we may recognize those who spend their days practicing unpretentious moral heroism, guided by an uncompromising loyalty to the truth. They are the best among us.</div><div>
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*My son Yaakov נ״י notes that the Vilna Gaon, in his Haggadah commentary, already cited this verse to argue that תם and רשע are opposite types. <br />
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David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-48881870952014237712020-03-23T09:00:00.002-07:002020-04-02T04:43:50.412-07:00A cruel and unusual theologyPlease see <a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-cruel-and-unusual-theology/">my essay on coronavirus and the problem of evil</a>.David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-27139255201038653362019-04-28T14:28:00.002-07:002020-05-31T17:20:03.023-07:00The Illustrated SederLike me, you may have vivid memories of Haggadah illustrations that accompanied the Seder over the years, especially the "four sons" motif. <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MYS_XDoQc-IavXIdkery8CqpbIL4d8Bq/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Here are some favorites from my family's collection.</a>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-30872735138735062982019-01-27T14:07:00.000-08:002019-03-10T16:14:41.965-07:00The 13th month: An appreciationPlease see <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-13th-month-an-appreciation/&source=gmail&ust=1548708308016000&usg=AFQjCNHGMqQor6txiVR-HVPtM8ye2RobDQ" href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-13th-month-an-appreciation/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">my essay on the Metonic cycle and the meaning of Adar I.</a>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-5494556796164566172018-09-03T09:02:00.001-07:002018-09-03T15:53:47.155-07:00The unintended ritualPlease see <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-unintended-ritual/&source=gmail&ust=1536033696475000&usg=AFQjCNEuGot7x7HOGekbQFrDlT2AYId0ag" href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-unintended-ritual/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">my essay on shofar, ritual performance, and religious meaning.</a>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-59998589844897645512017-07-01T19:08:00.001-07:002017-07-01T19:08:34.307-07:00A great Judeo-Christian nation?<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Please see my </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-great-judeo-christian-nation/&source=gmail&ust=1499047671552000&usg=AFQjCNEsFu89H_QCcGABWSw2R_5ORt-k7w" href="http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-great-judeo-christian-nation/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank">essay on American values and the fallacy of the Judeo-Christian tradition</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">.</span>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-90401535442955782262017-03-05T19:12:00.000-08:002017-03-05T19:12:28.715-08:00Fools for a day<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Please see </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/fools-for-a-day/&source=gmail&ust=1488856251997000&usg=AFQjCNHBnyZ2Hw_M5z7K6cjJY7xhMt2HvQ" href="http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/fools-for-a-day/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank">my essay on inversion rituals and Purim</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">.</span>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-26096395889201099502017-01-16T08:36:00.001-08:002017-01-16T08:36:40.335-08:00A Patriot's Prayer<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Please see <a href="http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-patriots-prayer/">my essay on "Hanoten Teshua" and American Jewish patriotism</a>. </span>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-51149189326404262592016-11-21T18:48:00.002-08:002016-11-21T18:48:56.942-08:00Normalize Thanksgiving<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Please see </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/normalize-thanksgiving/&source=gmail&ust=1479869276413000&usg=AFQjCNHhmw7202_IR8grzeW9hGweopj-Nw" href="http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/normalize-thanksgiving/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank">my essay on the values of Thanksgiving</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">.</span>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-88499734011434788632016-10-20T18:52:00.048-07:002023-10-06T10:44:24.471-07:00Hibut Arava: A mimetic threshing ritual?Beating willow branches into the ground (חיבוט ערבה) on Hoshana Rabba is a seemingly mysterious ritual on an unusual festival-within-a-festival. A definitive explanation of its origins and meaning has eluded scholars. Not surprisingly, the custom has given rise to a wide range of interpretations that tend to be esoteric or strained.<br />
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“Brook willows” are one of the four species -- four species together, as a unit -- the Bible mandates for the temple service on Sukkot. There is no mention of a separate practice with willow branches, by themselves, on any day of the festival. The Mishna and Talmud, however, speak frequently of a separate willow ritual. The Talmudic rabbis valued the practice so highly, they assigned it near-biblical status.</div><div>
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The Talmud describes an elaborate temple ritual in which priests circled the altar carrying tall willow branches, as they blew shofars and recited a key verse from the Hallel prayer - אָנָּא ה' הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא אָנָּא ה' הַצְלִיחָה נָּא׃ (Psalms 118:25). For six days, the willow bearers circled the altar once, and seven times on the seventh day. The branches were then leaned upright against the sides of the altar.</div><div>
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With the destruction of the temple, a somewhat diminished version of the willow ceremony replaced the priestly procession and is still practiced in the synagogue. On each day of Sukkot, worshipers with Lulav (palm branch with myrtle and willow) and Etrog (citron) in hand circle the <i>bima </i>(central platform) once, while reciting Hoshanot hymns (after the refrain of <i>hosha na</i>, "please save us"). The seventh day of Sukkot eventually came to be known as Hoshana Rabba -- "The Great Hoshana Day" -- on which congregants make seven revolutions around the <i>bima </i>with the four species. For the concluding hymns, the Lulav and Etrog are replaced with a set of five willow branches.<br />
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In the absence of the temple's altar on which to lean them, what should one do with the willow branches? The Talmud describes a ritual called חיבוט -- a word whose meaning, in this context, is not entirely clear.<br />
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Rashi defines חיבוט as נענוע (shaking or waving), the same term the rabbis use to describe the practice of pointing and shaking the four species in all directions. His analogy is thoroughly reasonable, as there is nothing at all in the Talmud about beating the branches, either on the ground or anywhere else. But Rashi held the minority view. Maimonides and others took חיבוט to mean beating, though not necessarily on the ground. This remains the most common practice.<br />
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The willow-to-ground tradition is at least as old as the post-Talmudic Geonim. In a responsum, Rabbi Tzemah Gaon (d. 890 CE) takes this type of performance for granted, and offers the following two explanations:<br />
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וששאלתם לענין ערבה שחובטין אותה בקרקע, מהו? הכי חזינן דערבה דומה לשפתים והיא באה לכפר עליהם מכאן ולהלאה "יתן בעפר פיהו אולי יש תקוה." ומשמא דקדמונאי אמרו, חביטא אמאי? משום "כל כלי יוצר עליך לא יצלח וכל לשון תקום אתך וגו'" -- משום דעד כאן ביומין אלין השטן מקטרג וישראל ביומין אלין דנפישי מצות מבטלי ליה מכאן ולהלאה כל שפה דיקום עלייהו לא יכול לשלטאה ויהא נפיל בארעא </blockquote>
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The midrash compares each of the four species to a human body part -- willow leaves are said to resemble lips. Rabbi Tzemah extends the metaphor by linking חיבוט ערבה to atonement, in one of two ways: Either the willow beater symbolically “puts his mouth in the dust” (Lamentations 3:29), a sign of expiating sin, preemptively, for the coming year; or, the willow evokes the mouth of Satan, whose slanders against the Children of Israel will be cast down to the ground and fail (see Isaiah 54:17) by virtue of the numerous mitzvot they perform during this season. (Note that R. Tzemah does not consider Hoshana Rabba a day of atonement for the <i>previous </i>year -- in both explanations he describes a prophylactic ritual - מכאן ולהלאה. This is forward-looking atonement.)<br />
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Hoshana Rabba took on increasing significance in the medieval period. Kabbalists, especially, viewed the holiday as the culmination of the atonement cycle: It is, after all, the last day of Sukkot, on which the Mishna (Rosh Ha-Shanah 1:2) says the entire world is “judged for rainfall.” Nahmanides, <i>Sefer Hasidim</i>, and others refer to the day as יום החתום -- ("The Day of the Seal") when divine reckonings are "sealed" -- i.e., officially finalized, even more permanently than the judgments God pronounced on Yom Kippur (The Zohar identifies Hoshana Rabba as the day on which God delivers פתקין -- written notices -- containing the heavenly verdicts of Yom Kippur). </div>
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By the sixteenth century, Lurianic Kabbalah (after Issac Luria, the "Ari") had elevated חיבוט ערבה to a previously unknown level, describing it in dramatic theurgical terms (theurgy is the idea, often related to magic, that rituals which man performs properly will influence the divine realms).<br />
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The Ari's theology is based on the system of ten divine sefirot (emanations or "hypostases" of God). In the Lurianic exegesis of willow beating, willow branches symbolize the sefira of <i>gevura </i>(“might” or restraint), associated with the divine quality of strict justice. The ground represents <i>malkhut </i>(“kingdom”), the lowest sefira, a metaphysical quality deeply connected to the Shekhina, which is the maternal and merciful side of divinity. Lurianic Kabbalah also ascribes five sub-attributes to <i>gevura</i> corresponding to the five <i>sofit </i>("final form")<i> </i>letters, מנצפ״ך.<br />
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Tying all of these elements together, according to the Lurianic tradition: On the final judgment day of the religious year, one must take exactly five branches, beat them exactly five times, no more and no less, and only on the ground, in order to unite -- or “marry” -- the divine emanations of <i>gevura </i>and <i>malkhut </i>and thereby “sweeten” God’s strict justice. <br />
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This is a striking example of the interplay between theology and practice so typical of Lurianic Kabbalah: An ancient, sacred ritual, with biblical or Talmudic origins, is said to function as a harmonizing influence on dynamic “intradivine” qualities (Gershom Scholem’s phrase). Once conceived and described, a completely innovative theurgical narrative then generates a new set of halakhic parameters -- for an existing though loosely defined ritual practice -- calibrated precisely to achieve its desired effect. The ritual must conform in every detail to the proscribed procedure (In contrast, Maimonides codified a relatively amorphous requirement of "one or several branches . . . which are beaten on the ground or on a vessel, two or three times . . .").<br />
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This metaphysical narrative is spelled out in the <i>yehi ratzon</i> prayer recited following חיבוט ערבה, a text that is found with minor variations in both Sephardic and Ashkenazic siddurim:<br />
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וְהַיּוֹם הַזֶּה תִּתֵּן בִּשְׁכִינַת עֻזֶּךָ חָמֵשׁ גְּבוּרוֹת מְמֻתָּקוֹת עַל יְדֵי חֲבִיטַת עֲרָבָה מִנְהַג נְבִיאֶיךָ הַקְּדוֹשִׁים וְתִתְעוֹרֵר הָאַהֲבָה בֵּינֵיהֶם וּתְנַשְׁקֶהָ* מִנְּשִׁיקוֹת פִּיךָ מַמְתֶּקֶת כָּל הַגְּבוּרוֹת וְכָל הַדִּינִין </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On this day, by means of the willow beating, a custom established by your holy prophets, may you place five sweetened justices (<i>gevurot</i>) </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">within the mighty Shekhina</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">. And may love be aroused between them, and may you kiss her* with the kisses of your mouth that sweetens all of the justices (</span><i style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">gevurot</i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">) and all strict judgments . . . </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Note the romantic imagery of </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">God's love for the Shekhina, inspired by Song of Song<span style="font-family: inherit;">s<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> 1:2</span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> (<span style="background-color: white; text-align: right;">יִשָּׁקֵנִי מִנְּשִׁיקוֹת פִּיהוּ), and </span></span>evoked by beating willows (justice, or male <i>gevurah</i>) into the ground (mercy, or female <i>malkhut</i>). The kabbalistic metaphor's dependency on the earlier midrashic image of willow-leaves-as-lips is also clear. The ritual requirements and their kabbalistic meaning is <a href="https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=20654&st=&pgnum=398" target="_blank">further elucidated in the Siddur Ari</a>.<br />
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Note too how the Lurianic exegesis of willow beating combines two of four recurring themes, as defined by Scholem, commonly found in Kabbalistic explanations of the mitzvot and liturgy (see “Tradition and New Creation in the Ritual of the Kabbalists” in <i>On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism</i>):<br />
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"1. Harmony between the rigid powers of judgment and the flowing powers of mercy.<br />
2. The sacred marriage, or conjunctio of the masculine and feminine.<br />
3. Redemption of the Shekhina from its entanglement in the 'other side.'<br />
4. Defense against, or mastery over, the 'other side.'"</blockquote>
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<br />As influential as it has been, the Lurianic interpretation is hardly the last word on this subject. While maintaining strict adherence to tradition, Jewish thinkers have long preoccupied themselves with the pursuit of philosophically relevant meaning in the mitzvot and their related customs. The effort persists to this day, especially when the historical origins of a particular practice are murky and its meaning obscure.<br />
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In our case, contemporary students of Jewish ritual appear to be unsatisfied with the enduring Lurianic narrative. Like the Ari himself, they bring innovative interpretive approaches to bear on the problem. A survey of three recently published theories on the origins of חיבוט ערבה demonstrates the range of creative possibilities such a suggestive but cryptic ritual can inspire. </div>
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In a <a href="http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/resources-ideas/cj/classics/sukkot/havatat-aravot-artson.PDF">detailed history of the custom</a>, Bradley Shavit Artson weighs various interpretations but concludes that beating the leaves off willow branches ultimately has a technical halakhic purpose, “to disqualify the aravot from any further ritual function.”</div>
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<a href="http://thetorah.com/the-ritual-of-hoshana-rabbah/">Zev Farber argues</a> that circling around the altar during Hoshanot was meant to summon God’s presence to receive our prayers for rain, just as the circuits around Jericho in the Book of Joshua summoned God to destroy the city’s walls. But invoking the divine presence entails great risk to man (see, e.g., the death of Nadav and Avihu). The beating of willows on Hoshana Rabba, he says, has an apotropaic purpose, to “protect the Jews from any negative consequences that might have come with the summoning of God to hear our prayers.”</div>
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In another recent attempt at uncovering the origins of this custom, <a href="http://seforim.blogspot.com/2015/09/what-did-willows-ever-do-to-deserve.html">Steven Weiner</a> points to a prophecy of Haggai (chapter 2) addressing the returning exiles who were disappointed by the diminished new Temple in Jerusalem. This prophecy was given on the twenty-first day of Tishrei, which is the permanent date of Hoshana Rabba. Among the notable images in the prophecy is the following: “For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.” After carefully arguing his case, the author concludes that “the seemingly bizarre ritual of shaking branches and striking the ground expressed profound longing for (and faith in) a more perfect גאולה, by vividly acting out the vision of חגי that one day God will bring a fully redemptive ‘upheaval’ when His presence returns to ‘shake’ the earth and overthrow all oppressors.”</div>
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All three theories are highly original and they may deepen the intellectual or spiritual appreciation of the practice. But I find them neither historically plausible nor religiously compelling. Critically, and unlike the explanations of R. Tzemah Gaon and Luria, I believe none of them sufficiently addresses the ritual as a function of at least one of the major themes of Hoshana Rabba.</div>
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My own view on the origins and meaning of חיבוט ערבה lacks conclusive evidence -- for now, it will remain conjecture. Perhaps someone will be inspired to conduct the scholarly heavy lifting that will either confirm or disprove this hypothesis. </div>
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But this much we know: In both Jewish and Greek traditions, the willow represented water. The Hoshanot ceremony -- in agrarian as well as modern societies -- is most fundamentally a supplication for rain and, as mentioned, an ancient rabbinic tradition considered Hoshana Rabba the final day of judgment for the imminent rainy season. On Shemini Azeret, the very next day, we begin praying for rain on a daily basis. Several piyyutim for Hoshanot petition God for rain, for a fruitful harvest, and for protection from agricultural diseases and crop failure (אדון המושיע; אדם ובהמה; אדמה מארר; למען תמים; תענה אמונים).</div>
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A prayer for rain at the beginning of winter is ultimately a prayer for a bountiful harvest in the summer. Also, considering the overall appearance of a willow branch, not only does it evoke water, it resembles a stalk of grain. I believe חיבוט ערבה was originally intended to mimic and thereby augur the threshing of grain at the harvest, the final stage of the agricultural cycle. </div>
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Supporting evidence comes from the root חבט, which is found five times in the Bible: Four instances refer to threshing grain (e.g., Judges 6:11 - וְגִדְעוֹן בְּנוֹ חֹבֵט חִטִּים בַּגַּת); the fifth to harvesting olives by striking their branches (Deut. 24:20). While the use of חבט in rabbinic Hebrew goes well beyond its literal sense (it became a loan word for hitting something or someone), the word retained its original meaning of threshing grain, by hand on the ground, especially in contrast to more efficient animal-assisted techniques.** חיבוט ערבה refers to the primary grain-threshing usage of חבט. The practice began, it seems, as a mimetic ritual at the start of each rainy season in anticipation of collecting grain, half a year later, on the threshing floor.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">Is it necessary, from a religious (rather than historical) perspective, to understand the origins of familiar rituals? Perhaps not. Even if we're left perplexed by the meaning of a ritual, we may still be motivated by much more than obligation or habit: Genuine spirituality, fellowship, and a sense of historical continuity may drive the most diligent religious observance, including practices we don't understand. Still, a symbolic act whose symbolism is inaccessible will leave thoughtful practitioners unsatisfied. Indeed, for some rituals, to deny their intelligibility is to undermine their essentially symbolic purpose. (Imagine, for example, a Passover Seder minus the Haggadah's explanation of the Seder's symbolic foods. Such a Seder, stripped of its exoteric meaning, might be called mysterious rather than symbolic).<br />
<br />Medieval Jewish philosophers debated whether mitzvot in the category known as <i>hukim </i>(decrees), could ever be explained. Most of them (Maimonides was virtually the lone exception) believed these mitzvot either lacked independent justification or that their rationale was so far beyond human comprehension as to render them meaningful only as the fulfillment of God's will. But whatever your position on rationalizing the biblical commandments, it would be difficult to make the case that the beating of willows on Hoshana Rabba must be accepted as an unintelligible decree.<br />
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One might even say that for the richest religious experience, “symbols require intent.”<br />
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*Most machzorim (e.g., ArtScroll) read וּתְנַשְּׁקֵנוּ -- "may you kiss us." However, given the kabbalistic mechanism described explicitly in R. Hayyim Vital's <a href="https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%A9%D7%A2%D7%A8_%D7%94%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%93%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%99_%D7%97%D7%92_%D7%94%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%93%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A9_%D7%97" target="_blank">Sha'ar Ha-Kavanot</a> (and incorporated into <a href="https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=20654&st=&pgnum=398" target="_blank">Siddur Ari</a>), as well as evidence from variants, the original version was almost certainly וּתְנַשְׁקֶהָ -- "may you (God) kiss her (the Shekhina)," as it appears in machzorim <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=yqA9AAAAcAAJ&pg=RA1-PA271&lpg=RA1-PA271&dq=%D7%9E%D6%B7%D7%9E%D6%B0%D7%AA%D6%B6%D6%BC%D7%A7%D6%B6%D7%AA+%D7%9B%D6%B8%D6%BC%D7%9C+%D7%94%D6%B7%D7%92%D6%B0%D6%BC%D7%91%D7%95%D6%BC%D7%A8%D7%95%D6%B9%D7%AA+%D7%95%D6%B0%D7%9B%D6%B8%D7%9C+%D7%94%D6%B7%D7%93%D6%B4%D6%BC%D7%99%D7%A0%D6%B4%D7%99%D7%9F&source=bl&ots=tB84gvBFH3&sig=JmxLZyeEn_2Wak3mWpfQ6juMS9g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjM64O03qfdAhXBSt8KHfwDAH0Q6AEwBHoECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q=%D7%9E%D6%B7%D7%9E%D6%B0%D7%AA%D6%B6%D6%BC%D7%A7%D6%B6%D7%AA%20%D7%9B%D6%B8%D6%BC%D7%9C%20%D7%94%D6%B7%D7%92%D6%B0%D6%BC%D7%91%D7%95%D6%BC%D7%A8%D7%95%D6%B9%D7%AA%20%D7%95%D6%B0%D7%9B%D6%B8%D7%9C%20%D7%94%D6%B7%D7%93%D6%B4%D6%BC%D7%99%D7%A0%D6%B4%D7%99%D7%9F&f=false" target="_blank">such as this one</a> (Prague, 1847; p. 271). The intra-divine, feminine was no doubt replaced, for theological reasons, with a divine-to-human plural conjugation.</div><div style="text-align: left;">
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**The distinction between חובט -- manual threshing -- and דש, threshing with a sledge pulled by an animal, is readily apparent in Mishna Terumot 9:3:<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="AR-SA" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">החובט משובח. והדש, כיצד
יעשה? </span><span lang="AR-SA" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">תולה
קפיפות בצווארי בהמה, ונותן לתוכן מאותו המין; ונמצא לא זומם את הבהמה, ולא</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR" lang="AR-SA" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> </span><span lang="AR-SA" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">מאכיל את התרומה</span><span dir="LTR" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span dir="LTR" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span dir="LTR" style="background: white; line-height: 107%;">I am grateful to my son Yehuda נ״י for pointing me to this reference.</span></span></div>
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David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-65482269628690904632016-09-27T17:27:00.004-07:002022-12-05T14:31:56.720-08:00Look for the union labelPlease see <a href="http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/look-for-the-union-label/">my essay on Orthodox subgroups and the Tishrei holidays</a>.David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-90147518632870737602016-08-09T17:22:00.001-07:002016-08-09T17:22:08.490-07:00The Courage to Question<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Please see </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-courage-to-question/&source=gmail&ust=1470874863111000&usg=AFQjCNFunY7KLc_BQaCiU900QEsDiZq2HA" href="http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-courage-to-question/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank">my essay on Modern Orthodoxy and modern biblical scholarship</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">.</span>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-23739714847833475092016-05-30T05:15:00.001-07:002016-05-30T05:15:44.731-07:00The Chesed Scroll<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Please see </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-chesed-scroll/&source=gmail&ust=1464696916022000&usg=AFQjCNHuhEXXImImpDwKBC-vO0Iec8zGCA" href="http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-chesed-scroll/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank">my essay on chesed and Megillat Rut</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">.</span>David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2005616984236125602.post-27967257784662213592016-05-04T18:35:00.010-07:002023-01-16T11:19:41.961-08:00Pharaoh's three advisers - שלושת יועצי פרעה<div dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">רבותינו ז"ל דרשו דרשה מפתיעה על הפסוק (שמות א:י) "הָבָה נִתְחַכְּמָה לוֹ פֶּן־יִרְבֶּה וְהָיָה כִּי־תִקְרֶאנָה מִלְחָמָה וְנוֹסַף גַּם־הוּא עַל־שֹׂנְאֵינוּ וְנִלְחַם־בָּנוּ וְעָלָה מִן־הָאָרֶץ"׃</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: large; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;">א"ר חייא בר אבא א"ר סימאי, שלשה היו באותה עצה: בלעם, ואיוב, ויתרו. בלעם שיעץ - נהרג, איוב ששתק - נידון ביסורין, יתרו שברח - זכו מבני בניו שישבו בלשכת הגזית, שנאמר: (דברי הימים א' ב) "וּמִשְׁפְּחוֹת סֹפְרִים יֹשְׁבֵי יַעְבֵּץ תִּרְעָתִים שִׁמְעָתִים שׂוּכָתִים הֵמָּה הַקִּינִים הַבָּאִים מֵחַמַּת אֲבִי בֵית־רֵכָב", וכתיב: (שופטים א) "וּבְנֵי קֵינִי חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה עָלוּ מֵעִיר הַתְּמָרִים אֶת־בְּנֵי יְהוּדָה מִדְבַּר יְהוּדָה אֲשֶׁר בְּנֶגֶב עֲרָד וַיֵּלֶךְ וַיֵּשֶׁב אֶת־הָעָם." (סוטה יא. ומקורות מקבילות)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">יש לתמוה: מנין להם לחז"ל שדווקא שלש הדמויות האלו השתתפו בהתיעצות עם פרעה בקנוניה נגד בני ישראל?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">התשובה, כנראה, נמצאת בפסוקים במקרא שבהם נאמר במפורש שהאישים הנזכרים – בלעם, איוב, ויתרו – הצטיינו בייעוץ לפני מלכים ומנהיגים.[1]</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">יתרו, כמובן, יעץ למשה למנות שופטים כדי להקל על העול המשפטי של המחוקק הטרוד:</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">עַתָּה שְׁמַע בְּקֹלִי </span><span style="color: black; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">אִיעָצְךָ</span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> וִיהִי אֱ-לֹהִים עִמָּךְ הֱיֵה אַתָּה לָעָם מוּל הָאֱ-לֹהִים וְהֵבֵאתָ אַתָּה אֶת־הַדְּבָרִים אֶל־הָאֱ-לֹהִים׃ (שמות יח:יט)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">וכידוע, יתרו הוא לא רק חותנו של משה, הוא גם הכהן הגדול של מדין, מדינה קרובה למצרים. חז"ל הניחו בצדק שפרעה היה מתייעץ במנהיגים מכובדים של העמים השכנים.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">גם בלעם עסק בשרותי ייעוץ למלכים -- אם לא במפורש לפרעה מלך מצרים, הלא כך הוא מציע לבלק מלך מואב:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">וְעַתָּה הִנְנִי הוֹלֵךְ לְעַמִּי לְכָה </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">אִיעָצְךָ</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה הָעָם הַזֶּה לְעַמְּךָ בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים׃ (במדבר כד:יד)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ואם בלעם היה המומחה הגדול לקללות של העולם העתיק, ועתיד היה לנסות לקלל את </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">עם </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ישראל, בודאי גם ייקרא להשתתף בתכנון המצרי ל</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">נגש את העם-בתוך-עם ההולך וגדל</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ולבסוף, איוב. בפרק כט מספרו, איוב נושא קינה על חייו האבודים. לפני שעברו עליו כל מיני אסונות מחרידות, הוא עמד בשיא הקריירה שלו. היה מיקירי עירו, נכבד ונערץ בעיני ראשי הקהילה. מנהיגים פוליטיים בקשו את חוות דעתו על הבעיות החמורות ביותר העומדות על הפרק. וכך הוא מתגעגע במרירות: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">מִי־יִתְּנֵנִי כְיַרְחֵי־קֶדֶם כִּימֵי אֱ-לוֹהַּ יִשְׁמְרֵנִי׃</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">בְּהִלּוֹ נֵרוֹ עֲלֵי רֹאשִׁי לְאוֹרוֹ אֵלֶךְ חֹשֶׁךְ׃</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">כַּאֲשֶׁר הָיִיתִי בִּימֵי חָרְפִּי בְּסוֹד אֱ-לוֹהַּ עֲלֵי אָהֳלִי׃</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">בְּצֵאתִי שַׁעַר עֲלֵי־קָרֶת בָּרְחוֹב אָכִין מוֹשָׁבִי׃ . . .</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">רָאוּנִי נְעָרִים וְנֶחְבָּאוּ וִישִׁישִׁים קָמוּ עָמָדוּ׃</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">שָׂרִים עָצְרוּ בְמִלִּים וְכַף יָשִׂימוּ לְפִיהֶם׃</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">קוֹל־נְגִידִים נֶחְבָּאוּ וּלְשׁוֹנָם לְחִכָּם דָּבֵקָה׃ . . .</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">לִי־שָׁמְעוּ וְיִחֵלּוּ </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">וְיִדְּמוּ לְמוֹ עֲצָתִי</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">׃[2]</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ככל הנראה, פסוקים אלו עמדו לנגד עיניו של רבי סימאי כשדרש את דרשתו על שלשה אישים – ש</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">למראית עין</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> אין להם כל קשר – שיעצו (או לא יעצו) לפרעה.[3]</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">אני מודה לחותני הרב ד"ר מיכאל דוד שמידמן שליט"א, מעין מתגבר של חידושי תורה, שנתן לי את ההשראה לחקור את מקורותיה של הדרשה, לבני היקרים שתרמו למחקר, ולגיסתי שירה קופל שערכה את הטקסט.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[1] גם אחיתופל נודע כיועץ מומחה (שמואל ב טז׃כג), אבל חי הרבה לאחר תקופת שעבוד מצרים – הדרשה מציעה תרחיש סביר מבחינה היסטורית. בקשר לתקופה בה חי איוב, ישנן בתלמוד דעות שונות (בבא בתרא טו). לפי אחת מהן, "ימי שנותיו של איוב, משעה שנכנסו ישראל למצרים ועד שיצאו." </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;"><br /></div><div dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[2]</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> אפשר שהרב זאב וולף איינהרן (מהרז״ו) רמז לפסוק הזה </span></span><span style="line-height: 20.24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">בפירושו לשמות רבה א׃ט</span><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">. אבל העיקר חסר מן הספר.</span></span></div><div dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">[3] מור</span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">י</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">לדרכי המדרש</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">, פרופ' ג'יימס קוגל שליט״א, שהמתודולוגיה שלו שימשה השראה לניתוח זה, נוקט בגישה שונה (ולדעתי, פחות משכנעת) למסורת שלושת היועצים. ראה </span></span><i style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Bible as it Was</span></i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> (קיימברידג': 1997), 293.</span></div><div dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;"><br /></div>
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David S. Zinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412806585632619687noreply@blogger.com0